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The
Civil Solidarity Agreement (PACS) is not meant only for lesbians, not
even only for the homosexual community...
So why have we addressed this question about the
PACS on the pages dedicated to female homosexuality?
First of all, the PACS was born out of a demand from the homosexual
community: for a homosexual couple, more than for any heterosexual couple,
it represents the only legal possibility of giving them a legal status
accompanied by a certain number of civil,
fiscal, and social advantages,
as well as concerning housing. It is thus an unprecedented
legislative advance in France, even if it remains imperfect.
Also, this site is not meant to present all the possible matrimonial
regimes. We have kept the PACS because it seems to us that this system
has remained largely unknown, despite the
strong debate on the subject in the National Assembly.
In this sense, this page seemed to us to have its place in a section
of the website dedicated to a group who suffers from a particular but
very real sort of violence: homophobia. The PACS - we are convinced
- is also an event whose nature will help reduce this violence little
by little..., in any case it helps.
A demand
of the homosexual community dating from the early 1990's and a recent
legal measure (law dated 15 novembre 1999), the Civil
Solidarity Agreement or PACS allows legal status for a couple,
in a relatively easy and free way, you perhaps.
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Who
can get a PACS?
It can be contracted by two adult persons, no
matter what their sex is as long as they are
living under the same roof (communal residence required) and with
the condition that they are:
not related directly (ascending or descending) or allied
(parent/child, grandparent/grandchild, step parent/step child)
not collaterals (same family) up to and including 3rd degree
(brother or sister, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece)
not
linked by another union: marriage or another current PACS.
What
is the procedure to follow?
No preliminary
specific formality is necessary (no medical certificate or license
;-), no need of a lawyer or a notary, no ceremony or celebration, just
a simple filing at the Tribunal
d'Instance of your residence. In certain cases however, it might
be useful to consult a notary to assure the legality of the arrangements
engaging each of the partners (patrimony, debts, estate ...).
The PACS is a simple joint declaration for
which no specific form is required, other than it must be written in
French and with two original copies. Both copies must then be
submitted to the Greffe du Tribunal d'Instance, accompanied by:
the integral
copy of the birth certificates of both parties
a certificate
of non-PACS for each party, which they may request from the Greffe
du Tribunal d'Instance of their hometown
a divorce
decree if need be, or the death certificate of the deceased spouse in
case of widowhood.
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How to dissolve a PACS?
There
exist 4 reasons for termination, each requiring a specific procedure.
The PACS can be ended by mutual agreement or unilaterally
by one of the partners, it also ends automatically in the case
of marriage or death of one of the two pacsees :
1. Mutual agreement of the partners:
once the partners decide by mutual agreement to terminate the
PACS, they submit a written joint declaration to the Greffe du
Tribunal d'Instance for which at least one of the persons is dependant
due to residence.
2. Unilateral choice of one partner:
once one of the partners decides to end the PACS, she needs to signify
her intention to terminate by serving notice by a bailiff
(huissier). The agreement ends 3 months after being served
by the bailiff, if the copy has been sent to the Greffe. Property ownership
and any debts are not modified during these 3 months.
3. Marriage of one of the partners:
the person who got married must signify by bailiff to her partner
and send a copy of her birth certificate to the Greffe du Tribunal
d'Instance which recorded the initial act showing the signification
confirming the marriage. The PACS ends as of the date of the marriage.
4. Death of one of the partners: the
PACS ends by the death of one of the partners. The surviving partner,
or any interested party, must send a copy of the death certificate
to the Greffe du Tribunal d'Instance which recorded the initial act.
Consequences
of the dissolution
The partners
proceed themselves to the liquidation of the rights and obligations
resulting from the agreement. If unable to reach an agreement, a judge
decides the legacy consequences of the rupture. He may also order
payment of damages on behalf of the partner who suffered damage.
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CIVIL
SECTION
[ fiscal section ] [ housing
section ]
The partners bring each other a mutual and materiel
assistance. The methods of this assistance can be specified
in the agreement. Any clause disregarding the obligatory nature of this
assistance shall be null and void. In addition, in the case of a dispute,
it will be the judge's duty to establish the responsibility of each
partner, considering their respective situations.
The law anticipates that the pacsees are jointly
responsible concerning debts contracted to a third party by one or the
other for daily living expenses (including the education
of children if need be) and the expenses relative to the conjugal
home.
The personal
belongings acquired before the PACS remain the original owner's.
Items which furnish the conjugal home are divided equally if
no other provisions have been made (which might specify the distribution);
the same applies to any items for which the date of purchase cannot
be established. The other material and real estate assets, acquired
after the PACS agreement, are divided equally, except if it has been
agreed upon differently on the purchase act.
FISCAL
SECTION
[ civil section ]
[ social
section ] [ housing
section ]
The
law dated 15 novembre 1999 plans for the joint
imposition for income tax of the
partners linked by a PACS for the income in the year of the
3rd anniversary of the filing of the agreement. The imposition applies
automatically, and not optionally.
The law considers
the pacsees as spouses concerning all the other tax rules, liquidation,
payment and audits of income tax and direct
local taxes.
Like married
couples and concubines, pacsees are subject to a joint imposition concerning
inheritance taxes. Both partners
are jointly responsible for the payment.
A reduction of
transfer fees (free) is anticipated in the case of legacy
or donation made to benefit a partner
linked to the donator or to the testator by a PACS. Attention, the
remaining partner receives nothing in the absence of a will.
[ next : social
section ] [ next : housing section ]
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The
law plans for the attribution, with no waiting period, of eligibility
for all Social Security services health and
maternity insurance to the partner who has no other benefits.
In addition,
the law includes the partner in the list of the beneficiaries of the
death capital. The payment of
the capital is made by priority to the persons who were under full
and permanent responsibility of the insured on the day of death. The
partner takes her place on this list before the descendants.
The PACS also
has the effect of suspending the advantage
of certain benefits: welfare and widowhood benefits.
Article L.223.7
of the Work Code is now applied to pacsees: the employer must fix
vacation dates taking into account
the partner's vacation dates possible. He must grant to pacsees working
in the same company the right to
the same dates off.
A priority for a transfer in order
to bring a person closer to the partner with whom a PACS has been
signed, and from whom they have been separated for professional reasons,
has been started in the three civil services.
A priority in terms of detachment and making available is also planned
in hospital and municipal civil services.
HOUSING
SECTION
[
civil section
] [ fiscal
section ] [ social
section ]
The law
dated 15 November 1999 inserts the person having signed a PACS with
the renter of a lodging in the
list of the beneficiaries for the continuation or the transfer
of the lease. No minimum time of cohabitation is required.
In other words, in case of desertion or the death of a partner, the
other may remain in the residence and take over the lease in her name,
even in the case of competition with other heirs (death).
In addition, the partner having concluded a PACS with the owner
(proprietor of a rental property), recorded on the date of notice,
or her ascendants or descendants, is also on the list of beneficiaries
to take over the lease, with
no minimum time duration of the PACS.
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